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Cage in Iran

Step aside, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Robert Spano: this year the prize for boldness in programming has to go to Nader Mashayehki, conductor of the Tehran Symphony, who, tomorrow night, will lead Tehran Conservatory students in a performance of Cage's Four6, as part of Bukhara magazine's Night of John Cage at the Beethoven Hall of the Iranian Artists' Forum. Mashayehki, a composer as well as a conductor, lived in Vienna for many years, studying at the Musikhochschule with Roman Haubenstock-Ramati and leading the Ensemble Wien 2001. For more on the struggle to maintain an orchestra in Iran, read this AP story from last summer and this story from Der Spiegel. (Via Soho the Dog.)

Update: Shervin Afshar, curator of the Iranian blog Signal to Noise, writes to say that he will be attending the above event, and also sends news of the Limited Access Exhibition at the Parkingallery in Tehran — a mix of sound installations, videos, and live performances. Makan Ashkewari will present a Cagean work mixing his own vocals with radio/TV noises, and Shervin himself will perform a piece entitled The Blue Box. The exhibition runs from March 8 to March 15. If you're looking for something to do in Tehran (?), drop by and check it out.